myers



D. D. MYERS AUTOMATIC SPARK CONTROL Filed June 21,v 1920 2 Sheds-Sheet 1' INVENTOR. Don D. Myers Jan. 1925- 1,522,467

D. D. MYERS AUTOMATIC SPARK CONTROL Filed June 21, 1926 2 Shoots-Sheet 2 MANUAL SPAR K ADVANCE 2 L INVENTOR. Don D Myers ATTORNEY Improvements in dpatented d. 6, 1925 UNTTE STATES i,5-z2,4e7

PATENT OFFICE.

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AUTOMATIC SPARK CONTROL.

application filed June 21, 1920. Serial No. 390,426.

To all whom it may conceive:

Be it known that I, lDoN D. MYERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Automatic Spark Controls, of which I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in aneans for'controlling the throttle and the ignition timer of internal combustion motors.

When the usual type of internal combustion motor is subjected to a sudden increase in load and the throttle is opened to restore the motor under increased load to its original speed, the motor pounds andoperates ,ineiiiciently. By retarding the ignition timer at the time the throttle opening is increased, this undesirable condition may be compensated for, but in order to insure the proper adjustment,- of the timer and in order to restore the timer to its original position when the motor has recovered its speed, it is very desirable to employ a device which is simple and automatic in operation.

One object of my invention is to automatically adjust the timing of the ignition circuit to make up for a sudden increase in load on the motor when the throttle is quickly opened.

Another object of the invention, is to au tomatically restore the timer of the ignition circuit to its original adjustment at a predetermined time after the timing of the ignition has been retarded.

Other objects and advantages relating to details of construction and economies of manufacture will appear as I proceed with the description of that embodiment of the invention, which for the purpose of the present application I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure I is an elevation partly in section of a preferred form of my invention.

Fig. H is a detail sectional view of a larger scale of the dashpot mechanism shown in Fig. I.

l ig. dill is an elevation, partly in section, showing the location of certain parts during the operation of the spark retarding means. Fig. EV is a section on the line lVlV of Fig. Hli, looking in the direction of the arrows and showing certain details in connection with the timer.

Fig. V is a section along the line V-V of Fig. 111, showing the throttle and spark control levers.

In Fig. l the throttle- 1 is controlled by the bell crank lever 2 which in turn is 0perated by the accelerator pedal 3 and re stored to closed position by the spring 4. Ad acent to and in the path of the forward endof lever 2 is the -bell crank lever 5 for automatically controlling the timing of the ignition. Spring 6 maintains lever 5 drawn toward its normal position as shown in Fig. 1. F1 .V indicates more clearly the means by which throttle control lever 2 engages the forward end of ignition control lever 5. Attached to the lower end of ignition control lever 5 is the cylinder 7 within which operates piston 8 attached to one end of the rod 9.. The combination ofcylinder 7 and piston 8 constitutes a dashpot or fluid actuated means. Rod 9 is linked to the lever 10 of lgnition timer 11, as shown more clearly in Fig. IV. The lever 10 shifts the position of one or more contacts, not shown, in a manner well known in the art. Yoke 12 is rigidly supported on one end of rod 9 and is free to slide longitudinally upon the rod 13 which is connected to the manually operated means, not shown, ordinarily provided for adjusting the advance or retard of the spark and which normally remains locked in position. At the end of the rod 13 is rigidl mounted the yoke l t which is free to sli e longitudinally upon the rod 9 and at the same time forms an abutment for one end of helical spring whose other end abuts upon yoke 12. Adjustable collar 16, supported upon the rod 9, provides a means for limiting the travel of yoke 14 upon the rod 9 thus making it possible to place spring 15 under an initial compression.

At one end of the cylinder 7 are provided a series of openings 17. and at the otherv end, the o ening 18 the size of which may be varie by valve 19. The piston 8 is provided with a valve 20 which permits the piston to move more freely toward the openings 17 than toward the-opening; 18.

lhe operation of my device is as follows:

The operator of the motor upon encountering a sudden increase in load which decreases the speed of the motor, depresses pedal 3, deflecting lever 2 to open throttle 1, at the same time enga ing the ignition control lever 5, and upon t e raising of the same forcing cylinder 7 toward the piston rod 9 whereby air is compressed at one side of the piston and finds egress through the opening 18, and upon the other side of the piston "8 air is rarefied but gradually returns to atmospheric pressure as the result of air passing through openings 17. Before equilibr1um can be established in the cylinder 7 by air passing through the openings 17 and 18 the rod 9 is longitudinally. displaced and compresses spring 15 at the'same time producing a corresponding deflection of the lever 10 in such a direction as to retard the spark. The energy stored in the spring 15 i by virtue of this compression is then graduof time is required before-the spring 15 can ally dissipated in forcing the air through the restricted opening 18, so that a definite period restore the rod 9 to the position it had before the pedal 3 was depressed. The action of the spring 15 in restoring the rod-9 to its original posltion provides an efi'icient method of gradually advancing the timing-of the spark as the speed of the motor recovers due to the increased supply of fuelthrough the throttle.

sln the form of dashpot shown, the valve 20 permits the cylinder 7 together with lever end of the c linder. through openings 17, and

piston 8 wi l remain unmoved by the slight pressure difference betweenthe two sides of the piston. When, however, the pedal 3 is "depressed quickly, the difference in pressure between the sides of the piston is sufiicient to force the piston forward and compress the spring 15. The amount of shifting which takes place is to a certain extent proportional to the rate at which the pedal 3 is depressed and consequently if the throttle be shifted suddenly to a wide opening, the period during which the timer will remainretarded will be greaterthan in the case where the throttle is shifted more slowly to this wide opening.

The rate at which the automatic restoring of the timing takes place may be varied by.

adjustment of the collar 16 upon the rod 9 to vary the stiffness of the spring 15; or by changing the size of the opening 18 by means of the valve 19. By reducing the the spring 15 and the opening of valve 19 -the manual ignition control rod 13 than in the case where/the opening .18 was relatively large. By increasing the initial compression of the spring 15 the energy stored therein by a quick depression of the pedal 3 will be increased, thus resulting in the spark beingretarded to a somewhat less extent and a more rapid restoration of the spark to its normal adjustment with reference to the control rod 13 than in the case where the compression of spring 15 was relatively small..

Having once adjusted the compression of to provide the desired control over the spark, if the load on the motor be suddenly increased, thereby resulting in decreased speed, the operator has simply to open the throttle, and the spring 15 in combination with the dash pot mechanism 7, 8 provides automatically a temporary retardation of the spark while the motor accelerates and reaches its normal speed. These adjustments 'may be so made as provide auto- -matically at each instant the proper timing ofthe spark to correspond with the speed of the engine at that particular instant, thus relieving the operator from the care incident to theordinary manual adjustment involved in control devices of the prior art.

I am aware that the particular embodiment of my invention above described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings is susceptible of considerable variation without departing from the spirit thereof and therefore I desire to claim my invention broadlyas well as specifically as indicated by the appended claims' I'claim as my invention:

1. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, a throttle, an ignition timer having a normal position, means operative upon sudden opening of the throttle automatically to retard said timer, and additional means adapted to restore said timer to normal, the time rate of restoration of the timer to normal position being lesser than the time rate of retardation.

2. In a system of control for internal combustion engines, a throttle, an ignition timer. means operative upon the sudden opening of the throttle to automatically retard said timer, and means in which energy is stored by the operation of said first named means to restore said timer after said first named means ceases to operate within a predetermined time limit, the time rate of the restoration of the timer to normal position being lesser than the time rate of retardation.

means? throttle operating mechanism, a timer op-.

erating connection adapted to be actuated by said mechanism to retard the sparkwhen the throttle is opened, said connection including a dash-pot directly and continuous-- ly connected therein, and resilient means tending to oppose the retarding of the spark.

5. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, an ignition timer, a first lever for controlling the flow of gas to said engine, a second lever adapted to be engaged by said'first lever for retarding said timer, and means to automatically advance said timer toward its original position after said levers have come to rest, the time rate of the restoration of the timer to normal position being lesser than the time rate of retardation.

6. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, a throttle controller, and an ignition controller shifted thereby, in eluding means for restoring itself within a predetermined time to the pisition held before being shifted, the time rate of the restoration of the timer to normal position being lesser than the time rate of retardation.

7. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, a throttle controller, an ignition timer, and means dependent on the rate of operation of said throttle controller toward open throttleposition to shift said ignition timer a variable distance.

8. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, a throttle, an ignition timer, and coupling means, therebetween responsive to a throttle opening to retard and then advance said ignition timer to the position held before being retarded, said advance being accomplished and within a predetermined time, the time rate of the restoration of the timer to normal position being lesser than the time rate of retardation.

9. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, an ignition timer, mechanism to retard the timer including a column of fluid, means permitting leakage of said fluid, and a spring coupled to said mechanism and positioned thereupon so as to retard the movement of the mechanism when the timer is retarded.

10. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, means to control the flow of gas thereto, ail-ignition timer, and

a coupling therebetween, including an energy storing device and an energy absorbing device to automatically accomplish retarding of said timer momentarily only when the flow of gas is suddenly increased, the restoration of the timer to normal position being accomplished at a diiferent rate than that of the retardation of the timer.

11. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, means to control the flow of gas thereto, an ignition timer, a coupling therebetween, including an energy storing device and an energy absorbing device to automatically accomplish the retarding of said timer momentarily only when the flow of gas is suddenly increased, and means for varying the rate at which energy is absorbed by said energy absorbing device.

12. In a system of control for an internal combustion engine, a throttle, an ignition timer, a coupling therebetween to retard said timer when said throttle is suddenlyv opened, means included in said coupling to advance said timer to its original position after said throttle has ceased opening, and means included in said coupling to vary the amount of retardation of said timer for a given rate and amount of opening of said throttle.

13. In a system of control for internal combustion engines, a throttle controller, an ignition timer, and means connected directly and continuously therebetween, including a dash pot, to retard said timer upon the sudden opening of the throttle, and a spring mechanism tending to restore said timer to its original position.

14. In combination, a throttle, mechanism for operating said throttle, a timer lever, manually montrolled means for shifting said timer lever, tending to remain fixed after adjustment, automatically controlled means for shifting saidlever tending to retard the spark upon the operation of said throttle mechanism to open the throttle, and a resilient connection between said two means tending to oppose relative movement, said automatically controlled means including a column of fluid having provision for leakage therefrom.

15. In a control system for engines, the combination of a throttle; an ignition timer; common control means'for said throttle and timer; a direct and constant connection between the control means and timer; and a yielding element interposed in said connection and adapted to retard momentarily said timer When said throttle is opened.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

non n. r runs. 

